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Burning Man Art Collective

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NEXT STOP: YOUTOPIA 2015!

Sol Diego Arts Collaborative and students from NewSchool of Architecture & Design lead a crew of local volunteers to build a fully functioning wooden video arcade purposed to withstand relentless desert conditions at world-renowned art and counterculture event.

San Diego, CA. August 8, 2015. On their knees on opposite sides of a 10x10 foot piece of plywood, the pounding summer sun isn't helping their focus as Angela Sobel and Andrew Koory try to keep a steady hand while delicately landing large cuts of custom-printed patterns on to adhesive. They are attaching a psychedelic wallpaper to the left wall of the arcade structure, currently laying on the floor of Sobel's driveway. It is in this suburban Serra Mesa neighborhood that a crew of volunteers and architecture students have been working for the past three months to build a strange and unique, large-scale art project.

"The Wonderlust Arcade is an arcade within an optical illusion," says lead artist Dave Timms. "Forced perspective is that point on the horizon that everything converges upon. What we're doing is warping that to create the illusion of a longer hallway... As you enter the room, you will appear taller."

Beautiful, intricately designed, laser cut patterns align modern interpretations of full sized arcade classics like Frogger, Space Invaders and Pong, as well as non-computer-based favorites such as Battleship, Operation and Simon. There is also a love testing machine.

Burning Man, the annual event which takes place in the notoriously inhospitable conditions of Nevada's Black Rock Desert, continues to make waves as the premier destination for avant-garde art. Projects for this year's theme, Carnival of Mirrors, were submitted from all over the globe. "We are very proud to have been selected for the fifth year in a row," says Timms, "and this relationship with the Burning Man organization helps Sol Diego introduce even more people to the experience of building big art, which can be a transformative experience for people who may not have previously had the access to explore their creativity or to be part of a team."

Pieces of the Wonderlust will be available for viewing and interaction at a fundraiser this Sunday, aptly named: "A Playdate with Wonderlust Arcade," to be held at Frock You Vintage Clothing in North Park, from 1-8 P.M. The gates to Burning Man 2015 open open on August 30.